The Hotdogs struggled for their shots in the face of the Tigers’ resolute defense early on but hit their stride before it got late, salvaging an 89-86 victory for the decisive headstart in the short series.
Ron Hale proved unstoppable for the Hotdogs but Derrick Brown also proved too hot to handle for the Tigers, banging away eight points in a 15-6 closing siege that saved the day for Purefoods.
Brown capped the telling run with a dagger of a jumper off the outstretched arms of Rossel Ellis, making it 89-86 with time down to 30 seconds.
In a virtual eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation with Brown, it was Hale who blinked as he muffed a three-point attempt that could have sent the game into overtime.
Kelvin Price pulled down the rebound and the Hotdogs wisely dribbled away the remaining time on the way to taking the 1-0 lead in the series.
The Hotdogs seek to move in the threshold of a first finals stint since the 2000 Governors Cup in Game Two tomorrow at the Philsport Arena.
"The game again became a measure of our heart. We trailed most of the way but we hang tough and took the game in the end," said acting Purefoods coach Ryan Gregorio.
"As I expected, it became an imports’ game. There’s no way we can stop (Ron ) Hale. We prayed that he missed his shots in the end and our prayers were answered," added Gregorio. "We, on the other hand, lived and died with Derrick Brown. In a close game, the easiest way thing out — go to your best player and that’s Brown for us".
Brown and Hale scored 33 points each but it was the Purefoods import who delivered better at crunchtime. Brown had 13 in the fourth quarter as against Hale’s seven.
Price added 20 points and nine rebounds for Purefoods and Ellis 18 points and 12 rebounds for the Tigers.
The Tigers led by as many as 11 points and were still ahead at 80-74 before the Hotdogs launched their killer attack.
Behind a stifling full-court pressure defense, the Tigers got away with an 11-0 closing run to build a 24-18 lead in the first period.
And the Tigers sustained the surge in the second quarter to carry a 53-44 margin in the second half.
Coca-Cola actually made a stirring 22-4 run bridging the first two quarters of play as it climbed out of an 8-16 hole and erected the game’s first double-digit spread at 30-20.
Coca-Cola’s trapping defense netted 13 Purefoods turnovers in the first half. The Tigers scored 19 points of those errors.